The global document storage (GDS) directory is a
directory used to store long-lived files that are used within a
process. These files include PDFs, policies, and form templates.
Long-lived files are a critical part of the overall state of many
AEM forms deployments. If some or all long-lived documents are lost
or corrupted, the forms server may become unstable. Input documents
for asynchronous job invocations are also stored in the GDS directory
and must be available to process requests. It is important that
you consider the reliability of the file system that hosts the GDS
directory. User a redundant array of independent disks (RAID) or other
technology as appropriate for your quality and level of service
needs.

Long-lived files may contain sensitive user information. This
information may require special credentials when accessed by using
the AEM forms APIs or user interfaces. It is important that the
GDS directory is properly secured through the operating system.
Only the administrator account that is used to run the application
server should have read/write access to the GDS directory.

In addition to selecting a secure, highly available directory
for GDS, you can also choose to enable document storage in the database.
Notice that even with using the AEM forms database for document
storage, AEM forms still requires the GDS directory. (See Backup
options when database is used for document storage.)

AEM forms application data resides in the GDS directory and the
AEM forms database. The following table describes the data and its
locations.

Configuring the GDS directory

The location of the GDS directory can be configured manually
during the AEM forms installation process. If the location setting
remains empty during installation, the location defaults to a directory
under the application server installation as follows:

In the Global Document Storage Directory box, enter the full
path to the new GDS directory and then click OK.

Immediately shut down the application server.

Move all the files from the old GDS directory to the new
location, keeping the internal directory structure.

Restart the application server.

About Deployment Files

AEM forms consists of two types of deployment files, the
service containers and the Java 2 Platform, Enterprise Edition (J2EE)
EAR files. The EAR files consist of standard J2EE application bundles
that contain the core functionality of AEM forms. The application
server-specific EAR files are as follows:

adobe-core-[appserver].ear

adobe-core-[appserver]-[OS].ear

Implementing AEM forms involves deploying the assembled EAR files
and supporting files to the application server where you plan to
run your AEM forms solution. If you configured and assembled multiple
modules, the deployable modules are packaged within the deployable
EAR files. To deploy these files, copy them to the [appserver home]\server\all\deploy
directory.

Modules and AEM forms archive files are packaged in JAR files.
Because they are not J2EE type files, they are not deployed to the
application server. Instead, they are copied into the GDS directory,
and a reference to their location is stored in the AEM forms database.
For this reason, the GDS directory must be shared among all the
nodes of the cluster. All the nodes must have access to the central
storage directory for the DSCs.